


Song for the Sun

by Haruka_1224



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 16:39:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haruka_1224/pseuds/Haruka_1224
Summary: Imai Lisa suffers from a rare genetic condition that causes even the slightest exposure to sunlight to be damaging, and potentially fatal. Knowing all along that she was going to die, she befriends Minato Yukina, who eventually discovers her secret. Despite that, the two draw closer and closer as the years of Lisa's life tick away."Imai Lisa had been sunkissed her whole life. In the darkness that surrounded her, she had become her own light; in the stormy sea of hardship that swallowed her, she had become her own rock.And then, she had been Yukina’s.Her sunkissed rhodonite."





	Song for the Sun

Imai Lisa’s funeral had been held, at her stubborn insistence, in the bright heat of the morning. The sun shone down relentlessly on the sorrowful procession, glinting off tear stained cheeks, dancing in the gaps between the leaves and beating down on the top of Yukina’s head.

Despite that, no one else seemed to notice it shining, to see the way it sparkled and danced and _laughed_ the way Lisa used to. They were too busy crying, too busy buried in waves of stiff black and blinding white, to even look up at the sky.

Imai Lisa’s funeral had been held, at her stubborn insistence, under the brilliantly shining sun that she had never stood under in life. Unlike everyone else, she had lived in the shadows, rising with the dusk and retreating with the dawn. Despite that, or maybe due to that, she had insisted on finally being kissed by the sun in death.

No, no. That was wrong. Imai Lisa had been sunkissed her whole life. In the darkness that surrounded her, she had become her own light; in the stormy sea of hardship that swallowed her, she had become her own rock.

And then, she had been Yukina’s.

Her sunkissed rhodonite.

* * *

Imai Lisa blazed into her life, a glittering comet, on a late summer evening almost eleven years ago. They had been five years old then, chubby-cheeked and innocent the way only children could be, as transient as the budding flowers of spring. Yukina had gotten lost chasing a cat down a back alley, and was sobbing outside the front gate of the last house along that street.

If she had elected not to chase that cat, if it had taken a different turn, if she had chosen to run down one more street before she burst into tears, she would not have met Lisa. And how much poorer her life would have been.

A few moments later, the door to that house had swung open, and a little girl poked her head cautiously out. She had long, wavy hair that turned to flame where the sunlight touched it, a sight that took Yukina’s breath away. Sniffing quietly, Yukina stared at the other girl for a moment, before she ran down the path and practically flung herself at Yukina.

“What’s wrong?” the other girl had asked, her exposed skin seeming to turn pink beneath the dying rays of the sun. “Why are you crying?”

“I… I got lost,” Yukina sniffed, “I… I want t-to go home…!”

“Lisa? Lisa, where are you?” Just then, a concerned voice echoed from the hallway, its pitch rising dramatically as it cried out, “Did you go outside? Lisa!”

A woman with the same curly, red-brown hair as the little girl, Lisa’s mother, Yukina later learned, dashed out of the house. She had a jacket in hand, strange considering the season, and basically threw it on top of Lisa before she noticed the crying Yukina.

“Oh, sweetheart, where did you come from?” she had asked, crouching down to meet Yukina’s eyes.

“I don’t know,” Yukina whimpered, dissolving into tears once again. “I… I want to go home…!”

“Come on inside, out of the sun,” the woman urged, herding them both inside like a pair of lost lambs. “Sit down, sit down. Everything will be alright.”

The curtains inside the house had all been drawn tight, and were made of thick fabric that prevented a single shred of sunlight from seeping through. It was far from dark, however; the overhead lights were almost white, aggressive and sharp, contrasting with the warm colors of everything else. If it wasn’t for Lisa’s hand still tightly clenched in hers, Yukina would have broken down again at the harsh, alien environment.

“Do you know where your house is?” Lisa’s mother asked, once both girls had settled down onto the comfy, overstuffed couch.

Yukina shook her head, her bottom lip quivering as if she was about to cry again, when Lisa smiled and said, “My name is Lisa. Imai Lisa. What’s yours?”

Those gentle, silver eyes seemed to melt her fears away, and Yukina replied, in between sniffles, “Yu… Yukina. Minato Yukina.”

“Minato?” the woman’s face had lit up almost as brightly as her lights, and she patted Yukina on the head as she got up. “I think I know just who to call. Stay put, alright? Both of you.”

Her words grew a little sharper when she turned to face Lisa, but the little girl merely smiled and nodded so enthusiastically, the jacket slid off her shoulders, exposing her arms. Yukina nearly gasped in shock at the sight of them - Lisa’s skin had turned a deep, angry red that seemed even more painful beneath the aggressive lighting.

How could something have hurt her so quickly? Her arms had been fine when she had first flung open those doors. Had Yukina gripped her too tightly and hurt her in some way…?

“Are you okay?” she had asked, half to herself, as if she were afraid to hear the answer.

Lisa had smiled again, a smile brighter than the sun, “Of course I am!”

Unable to believe that such a bright smile could be faked, that such a light tone could conceal a lie, Yukina had gladly believed her. Until her parents arrived to take her home, until she realized she had merely wandered one street down and was closer to home than she had imagined, Yukina had laughed with Lisa, basking in her gentle light.

However… even then, Lisa had known she was going to die. Beneath that brilliant smile and that gentle kindness was a child who knew her time on earth was limited, a child who carried an incredible pain within her, a child who was angry and afraid of the world, but she had not let it show. In fact, it took Yukina almost five whole years to learn the truth - that her best friend in the whole world was unlikely to live to adulthood.

* * *

It had been near the end of March when she found out, when the cherry blossoms were blooming almost cruelly overhead, their petals lining the path up to Yukina’s elementary school. She had only been ten years old.

From the very beginning, Yukina knew something about Lisa was different. She didn’t seem to play or wander outside of her home and never replied to any messages before 6:30pm, but Yukina had never really worried about it. After all, there were many logical explanations for her slightly weird schedule.

Lisa might be attending the prestigious private academy three stations away and hence, was too busy with her studies and club activities until the evening. Lisa’s parents might have signed her up for multiple cram schools, she might have some incredibly lofty ambition that required the sacrifice of the joys of childhood, and was shut away somewhere studying her heart out.

Yukina had not even imagined that the truth could be far darker.

Unknown to Yukina, her parents had always been aware of Lisa’s secret. The other girl’s parents had called, a few weeks into their blossoming friendship, feeling obliged to reveal their daughter’s condition. They felt that Lisa was like a grenade, a dangerous weapon that would hurt those who befriended her, and thought it their moral duty to warn Yukina’s parents of the risk their daughter was facing. Lisa would, almost inevitably, die before Yukina, a secret that Yukina’s parents had managed to keep for a surprisingly long time.

Unfortunately, that one spring morning, her father had slipped up, mentioning something about how sad Lisa’s story was, living a life that could be taken from her so soon. Startled, Yukina had questioned him for more details, but he had immediately closed off and rushed her to school. His staunch refusal to elaborate weighed heavily on Yukina’s mind, and she could not think about anything else.

The cherry blossoms, normally so beautiful and long-awaited for, were colorless in Yukina’s eyes that morning. All she could think about was Lisa, beautiful, gentle, reliable Lisa, the most perfect person the world would ever know. What was it, she wondered, what was threatening to take away the sun that lit up her life? What was she going through that even adults would consider sad?

“Sad” and “Lisa” were not words that one often heard in the same sentence. Lisa was hardly ever sad, she hardly ever stopped _smiling._ Whenever Yukina struggled with something, _anything,_ Lisa would always listen without judgment and provide a steady rock for her to rest her weary wings. Whenever Yukina was trapped in suffocating darkness, it was Lisa who would light up the way for her, creating hope when there was none to be found.

“It’ll be okay,” Lisa would whisper, running gentle fingers through Yukina’s hair, “You’re stronger than you think.”

“Because you’re with me,” Yukina would say, reaching out for her other hand and lacing their fingers together. “If you’re with me, I’m not afraid of anything.”

Thinking back on those nights, Yukina suddenly realized something rather unsettling; Lisa had never responded to that. Instead, she would always smile in a way that never quite reached her eyes, in a way that wasn’t quite ordinary, in a way that would… almost qualify as “sad.”

Was something wrong with Lisa? Yukina had always thought of her as the sun, unfailable, unflinching, always ready to rise and shine again. She had never, not even for a moment, questioned the permanence of Lisa’s presence; she had simply assumed she would always be there, as years turned into decades, shining that gentle warmth down on her.

Had she been wrong? Was Lisa more like the cherry blossoms that blossomed and scattered around her, an ephemeral existence that could only stay, impossibly beautiful, for a fleeting moment?

If Lisa was indeed fading like snow on a spring morning, if there was something that was slowly - Yukina hated the word, but could not deny it - _killing_ her, how had Yukina failed to notice for so long?

She was just a child, she had not even turned ten years old yet, surely that was an acceptable reason. No one could expect a child to suspect that her friend was dying, especially not when said friend was strong, warm and brighter than the sun.

To a ten year old, a sick person was supposed to look and act in a certain way - pale, weak and easily tired, they shuffled along on uncertain feet and were definitely not capable of staying up all night to do online shopping or play video games. How could little Yukina have suspected a thing?

Excuses, they were nothing but excuses and Yukina knew it. She could make as many as she wanted; no one would forgive her.

She had to find out the truth, no matter how painful it would be to swallow. She had to find out the truth before it was too late, before the cherry blossoms were gone and their beauty but a lingering memory of a time forever lost to her.

**~**

That evening, Yukina found herself frozen in the Imai’s front yard, showered in the petals of the cherry blossom trees that grew there. Instead of the beautiful, pale pink ones made famous by their many appearances in manga and romantic dramas, these were white - colorless, almost lifeless, and the sight of them made Yukina’s chest ache.

“Yukina?” Lisa’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts, the same, gentle warmth that echoed in her dreams. “Why are you standing out there staring at nothing? Come in, come in!”

Lisa looked as she always did, shining like the sun, bright-eyed and strong and impossibly perfect. There was no way the world would take away the life of someone who deserved, so obviously, to live more than anyone else; it had to be some sort of misunderstanding, right?

“Yukina? Is something wrong?” Lisa asked, her brows furrowing adorably.

Yukina had no idea how to respond. She wasn’t sure if she could; she was frozen in place beneath the scattered cherry blossoms, like a protagonist in a shoujo manga waiting for her main love interest to come running into her arms. Unfortunately, she knew, things were not going to be that simple, that blissfully happy.

“Lisa…” she couldn’t stop her voice from trembling, from being sharp with accusation and hurt. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Confusion, hesitation - Lisa wasn’t sure what she was talking about, or maybe she was in firm denial? If Yukina hadn’t known her as well as she did, she would have easily missed it, the flicker of fear in her eyes. Lisa had a secret, she was hiding something, and she was desperately hoping that Yukina had not stumbled upon it.

But she had. She wasn’t sure about the exact details, but…

“You’re dying.”

Lisa froze for a painfully long moment, and then smiled that sad little smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“… I am,” she said, sounding afraid yet relieved at the same time.

That tone, and the fact that she had admitted it straightaway, told Yukina everything. Lisa had not wanted to keep secrets; it had most likely been an order from her parents, and Lisa was too sweet a child to openly disobey. So she had waited, hoping for an opportunity to share her burden, grabbing hold of it the moment she could.

The realization melted all of Yukina’s anger away, and she flung herself at Lisa as if she were holding her for the final time.

“Tell me everything,” she had demanded.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Lisa obliged. Right there beneath the cherry blossoms, in the dark of the night, Yukina had learned the dark truth, and painful irony, of the girl that was her sun.

Because the sun was, quite literally, the very thing that could kill her.

_Xeroderma Pigmentosum._

Even the name of the disease itself was vile.

No, it was not really a disease, Yukina supposed; it wasn’t something that could be caught, nor was it something that crept up on you when you least suspected it. Instead, it was something you were born with, a terrible fate, a shitty hand of cards, one of the shortest sticks one could possibly get.

It was a complicated and rare hereditary neurological disorder, but its effects were simple. In Lisa’s case, even the slightest exposure to the sun would prove damaging, even deadly, and it was recommended she reverse night and day to reduce her risk of skin cancer. Unfortunately, it was less of a cure and more of a desperate attempt to increase the quantity of Lisa’s limited days, even though there was another, much less predictable symptom of the accursed disorder that continued to threaten them.

Brain atrophy.

“Long story short, I’m dying,” Lisa had said, putting on the bravest smile Yukina had ever seen. “If the sun doesn’t kill me, my brain will.”

It was a darker answer than Yukina had expected, one without even the faintest glimmer of hope. Lisa wasn’t really sick, it was not something that could be cured - her body in itself seemed to be opposed to the idea of living. There was no medication that could save her, no operation that could set things right - Imai Lisa was fading, her body was counting down on an invisible clock only it could see, and both girls had to enjoy every second it was willing to give.

Yukina’s sun was fading, and there was nothing anyone could do to save it.

* * *

Despite that, everything still remained as normal as it could be. Lisa was dying, but really, so was everyone else - death was an inevitable conclusion, the only fate that every human being in the world shared. The only difference was that her body had been born flawed, speeding the process along.

Neither of them wanted to taint the precious remnants of their time together with shadows, so they continued as they did before.

At any moment, Yukina knew that her sun could be stolen away from her. Still, Lisa seemed so healthy, aside from the fact that she had reversed night and day, that Yukina could almost forget about it. Lisa laughed and smiled and messed around; she headed to the convenience store at 2am for the sake of ice cream; she spent money on WEGO’s online store and spent way too much money on mobile games; she did things that one wouldn’t expect sick people to.

Yukina could almost forget about it, until she couldn’t.

It happened during the beginning of winter, when they were sixteen years old. Yukina had woken up that morning with a strange feeling in her gut, and when the phone rang, nearly jumped out of her skin.

It was Lisa’s number.

“ _Moshi moshi_?” she said hesitantly, trying to ignore the crushing feeling in her chest.

“Yukina-chan?” it was Lisa’s mother, a fact that sent her heart plummeting even further into her stomach. Why was she the one calling, why was she using Lisa’s phone - had Lisa disappeared before Yukina even had the chance to say goodbye?

“Y-yes?” her voice was trembling, so was her entire body, and she had to use both hands to secure her phone to her ear.

“Lisa’s been hospitalized,” Lisa’s mother replied, not bothered with the usual pleasantries - she sounded far too exhausted for any of that. “She’s in Ward 51, Bed 3, if you want to pop by after school?”

“Is she…” Yukina swallowed the question back, as it was far too stupid to ask. _Is she okay?_ If she was, she wouldn’t be in the hospital in the first place. “Understood. I’ll be there.”

“Thank you, Yukina-chan. It means so much to her, you know, to have you.”

Yukina did not respond, she could not. Were there even any words to express how she felt? _It goes both ways. It means so much to me, you know, to have her._

No, it could not convey even a fraction of the feelings she had for Lisa, feelings that she herself could not understand. Even if she said them a thousand times, it would still not be enough.

Silently, almost robotically, she hung up the phone, feeling as if the entire world had come crashing down on her overnight and she had just woken up in its ashes. Lisa was in the hospital, Lisa was undoubtedly dying, and Yukina should be grateful for the ten, almost eleven years she had managed to enjoy together with her, mostly untainted by the disease’s claws.

Still, Yukina wanted more. Eleven years couldn’t possibly be enough - she wanted an eternity with Lisa, endless days filled with warmth and laughter, where her nights were brighter than her days. She could not imagine a future without Lisa in it, despite its painful inevitability, and refused to even entertain the morbid thought.

Lisa would get better.

Lisa had to get better.

Her night-time sun would rise again, and everything would go back to normal. The rock she relied on would remain, unshakeable, and their peaceful days would continue on.

That was what Yukina believed, as she walked through the hospital to Ward 51, her schoolbag slung over her shoulder. Lisa would be alright, everything would be alright, the world couldn’t possibly be cruel enough to give them any other outcome.

That was what Yukina believed when she strode into the private room of Bed 3 to see her sun, sitting up and smiling with the same bright-eyed intensity as she always did.

“Yukina!”

She never knew that the sound of her name could strike her so deeply, shaking her to the very foundation of her being. Yukina wanted to ask Lisa to say it again, to call her name forever, but chose to drop her schoolbag on the table instead.

“I brought you a present,” she said, unable to resist smiling back.

“A present?” Lisa’s eyes brightened, and she clapped her hands like an eager child. “Ah, chocolate cake? You shouldn’t have!”

“I heard that hospital food is pretty awful,” Yukina said, gently laying the cake box on the table. “I hope this helps.”

Lisa laughed, shifting closer to the table. “Just seeing you makes me feel a million times better.”

Yukina blushed, changing the subject to avoid having to respond, “This room doesn’t have a window.”

“Windows are kind of deadly to me,” Lisa said casually, folding down the flaps of the cake box, “Yukina, there’s forks in the drawer over there. Could you please get them for me?”

Speechless, Yukina obeyed. How could she have asked such a stupid question, she wondered as Lisa excitedly dug into the cake. She knew of Lisa’s condition, she knew the rays of the sun were deadly to her, yet she couldn’t put two and two together and realize it was why she was in the only windowless room in the entire ward?

“It’s delicious,” Lisa said brightly, offering a fork to Yukina, “Try some?”

With a little shake of her head, Yukina replied, “I bought it for you.”

Lisa pouted, staring up at Yukina with those adorable, beautiful silver eyes that she just couldn’t resist. “Just one bite?”

Yukina sighed; she had never been able to beat those damn eyes. “Fine, just one.”

“Yes!” with a victorious cry, Lisa raised the fork to Yukina’s lips, “Say ‘ah’.”

Blushing, she obliged, the sweetness on her tongue nothing in comparison to the sweetness in her heart. Warm, she felt so incredibly warm, that even a sterile white hospital room could feel like home.

If only time could freeze like this, preserving their happiness for the rest of eternity. If only the sun would never have to set, permanently hanging in the sky. If only Lisa could keep shining, a brilliant star in the center of Yukina’s universe, forever.

But even the brightest stars had to go out.

Every beginning needed an end.

And that day… had been the beginning of the end.

* * *

It hadn’t been all that obvious yet, but Lisa’s condition was deteriorating. Blissfully unaware, Yukina had enjoyed those peaceful, warm hospital visits, unaware that too many charts were coming back with numbers too high or too low as Lisa’s body shut down.

When Lisa had said, “I’m being discharged tomorrow,” Yukina had no reason to imagine that things were not alright. She had no reason to suspect that something was amiss, that Lisa’s discharge was more for the quality of her remaining days than a reassurance about her health.

To celebrate her release, Yukina had offered to do anything Lisa wanted, and that was why they were at a cozy little neighborhood cafe, one famous for its homemade black curry, a mere thirty minutes before closing time.

Considering the late hour, Yukina was hardly surprised to see that they were the only customers left. The owners of the cafe, an elderly couple, had come out from behind the counter to have a chat, probably drawn by the brightness of Lisa’s smile. Yukina couldn’t blame them - Lisa’s smile should be qualified as some sort of military grade weapon.

“Are you girls from Hanasakigawa Girls’ School?” the elderly lady asked.

Lisa shook her head, her smile not dimming in the slightest as she replied, “We’re from Haneoka.”

It was a lie, but Yukina did not comment on it. Explaining why she was home-schooled at ungodly hours of the night would be too close to revealing Lisa’s secret, so it was obvious she would want to piggyback on Yukina’s school.

So Yukina merely nodded and added, “We’re in the first year.”

“Oh, how lovely it must be to be so young,” the elderly lady clapped her hands, turning to look at her husband. “It feels so nostalgic, doesn’t it?”

The elderly man chuckled, “That’s right. Do the two of you have a plan for the future?”

Without missing a beat, Lisa replied, “I don’t. I figured I don’t really need one.”

Yukina nearly choked at that, trying to hide it behind a cough. It was unlike Lisa to make a comment alluding to her condition like that, and it was painful how she could say it with a breezy smile, as if her imminent death was nothing important. But then again, she’d had an extremely long time to come to terms with her mortality - Lisa had known, since before they had met, that she was going to die before she turned twenty years old.

“You should,” he said, gently touching his wife’s hand. “Before you know it, you’re going to be just as old as we are!”

With a laugh too bright and too happy for her words, Lisa said, “That won’t happen!”

Yukina struggled to smile along as everyone else laughed, despite the sinking feeling in her chest. It was so easy to mislead people, she thought, especially those who took their “ordinary” world for granted. It was so easy to pretend that everything was alright, especially when no one was really looking out for any warning signs.

The elderly couple probably thought Lisa had spoken with joking indignation, a child still filled with the vigors and illusions of youth. But that was not so.

Lisa was never going to be as old as them. She was not likely to even become an adult at all.

“Yukina, is something wrong?”

Worried, Lisa was worried about her. Yukina wanted to laugh at how ridiculous it was. Lisa was the one dying, she was the one joking about her mortality, she was the one who had just been discharged from the hospital, yet she was the one worrying about Yukina.

“It’s nothing,” Yukina said reassuringly, “I was just thinking… it’s just like you, huh?”

Slightly confused, Lisa smiled back, reaching out for Yukina’s hand to give it a reassuring squeeze, one that Yukina felt all the way inside her heart.

Lisa’s grip was weaker than it used to be.

* * *

“Lisa, it’s -2 degrees out,” Yukina protested, even though she already knew she was going to give in. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Lisa pouted, cradling the boxes of sparklers even closer to her chest. “Of course I do. Who knows when we’d be able to do this again?”

It sounded innocent enough, but Yukina could sense the dark undercurrent beneath those sunny words. Lisa was trying her hardest not to show how shaken she was by her weakening body, but Yukina knew her too well to be fooled. Her time was running out, she had no idea if she would even be alive in the spring, let alone the summer to enjoy the fireworks like any ordinary person. That was why she wanted to play with them now, while she still could.

How could Yukina possibly say no to that?

“Alright,” she huffed, shrugging on her coat and zipping it up to her neck. “Only because you insisted.”

With a little laugh, Lisa transferred the boxes from under one arm to another as Yukina helped her into her jacket. It was a cover and they both knew it - Yukina was not sure about the details, but Lisa could no longer move the way she used to. Her fingers, and to a lesser extent her arms and legs as well, didn’t respond to her the way they should, twitching and folding in weird positions for no reason whatsoever.

She fell over more than she did before. She struggled to hold her chopsticks steady the way she used to. She could hardly tie her own shoelaces, do her own eyeliner or even zip up her own jackets anymore. It was a startling, painful change - it seemed like just yesterday when Lisa didn’t show a single symptom of her illness in the night, but now…

All of a sudden, the reality of her diagnosis had come knocking, growing harder and harder to ignore with each passing day.

“Mom, Yukina and I will be out in the backyard for a bit,” Lisa called into the kitchen as Yukina wrestled with her bootlaces.

“In this cold?” Yukina could practically hear the older woman shaking her head, but she did not deny her daughter either. “Take care, and don’t stay out for too long, alright?”

“Alright!” they called back in unison.

The cold wind that greeted them felt like a giant slap to the face, but the huge grin on Lisa’s face was more than enough to warm Yukina up from the inside. She was unreservedly happy, twirling clumsily across the dried grass, still cradling the sparklers to her chest. Smiling, Yukina chased after her, only the slightest bit surprised when Lisa suddenly dropped the boxes and flung herself at her in a tackle-hug.

“H-hey,” she scolded, taking a step back as she steadied them, “You’ll knock me over!”

Lisa laughed as she apologized, her beautiful reddish-brown hair tossed about in the wind like so many rays of sunshine.

She wasn’t sorry in the slightest and they both knew it; she was incorrigible that way. Unlike Yukina, Lisa adored open displays of affection and was generous with physical contact.

With a huff of mock annoyance, Yukina let her go to pick up the scattered boxes. As she gathered them up, Yukina watched Lisa’s breath turn into white clouds that were quickly swept away.

“They might not light in this wind,” Yukina warned as she pulled out a sparkler, steadying the lighter with her other hand. There was no way she was going to let Lisa light it by herself, not when she was more likely to set herself on fire instead.

“That’s okay,” Lisa said cheerfully, sidling up to Yukina’s side like a giant, contented cat. “Just being out here with you is enough.”

Blushing, Yukina bit her lip as she concentrated on protecting the little, wavering flame, using it as an excuse to not answer. It took a bit of repositioning and shielding the flame with her body, but eventually, she got the sparkler to light, brilliant golden light piercing through the darkness. With a smile, she handed it to Lisa.

“Thank you!” with an excited squeal, Lisa grabbed onto the sparkler, twirling excitedly as she wondered aloud, “What should I write with it?”

She was still as brilliant as she always was, Yukina found herself thinking as she watched her, she was still that same endlessly shining, nighttime sun that Yukina couldn’t imagine living without. Sure, she had slowed down, the words she wrote in the night sky were wobbly and trembled more than usual, but that burning spirit inside her had not been dimmed in the slightest.

She shone red in the night, strong yet gentle, the light that told Yukina she always had a home to come back to.

Her sunkissed rhodonite.

Yukina decided to write a song for her.

* * *

She had not expected things to change so suddenly.

Yukina could not conceal her shock, her fear, as she stood on the Imai’s doorstep, staring at the light of her life with wide eyes. It had only been a few days, but Lisa genuinely looked ill now. She was in a wheelchair, a bright red one that matched her sunny personality, but it could not hide the fact that it was an implement used by the sick.

“It’s not that bad, really,” Lisa reassured her, the irony of it striking deep into Yukina’s chest. “I can still walk. It’s just easier for me to use this thing.”

She made as if to stand up and demonstrate, but Yukina gently pushed her back down into the chair as she said, “It’s alright, there’s no need.”

Behind her, Lisa’s mother had a pained smile on her face as she pressed a bottle of sunscreen into Lisa’s hand, reminding them both to reapply it every two hours no matter what, because it was better to be safe than sorry. Watching the way her hands lingered over her daughter, Yukina immediately understood why Lisa’s strange request had been allowed.

She wasn’t just fading anymore. She was actively dying.

They had passed the point where preventative measures really meant anything anymore. If Lisa wanted to go out shopping in the morning now, then why stop her? It was time for her to do whatever it was she wanted before her days ran out, while her body was still capable of enduring it.

Shifting her bag even higher on her shoulder, Yukina took careful hold of the wheelchair’s handlebars. She had never been more grateful for her distant, quiet personality - there was no need to fake a farewell smile to Lisa’s watchful mother as they headed down the path to the train station.

Lisa, however, was as sunny as usual. Even in the daytime, she was dazzlingly bright, a light that outshone the sun itself.

“Is there anywhere you really want to go?” Yukina asked.

“Harajuku!” Lisa replied cheerfully, twisting her head around to meet Yukina’s eyes. “You don’t have to be so stiff, you know. I’m still the same Lisa, just with four more wheels.”

Trust Lisa to always read her mind, Yukina thought, unable to stop herself from smiling. “I know.”

“Let’s buy something matching,” Lisa said eagerly, as if she were completely oblivious to the strange, almost pitying gazes that everyone on the train seemed to direct her way.

 _So young,_ their eyes seemed to say, _the poor thing._ But Lisa did not want to be pitied, would not allow herself to be pitied, nearly bouncing on her chair with excited impatience. It was her first time going out in the daytime, it was her first time going to Harajuku, a place she had always dreamed of; it was no wonder she was as excited as a young child.

Takeshita Street was not the most wheelchair friendly place in the world, but somehow, they managed it. Tourists and locals alike gave them space as they passed by, though Lisa hardly seemed to notice them as she pointed out cute clothes and pleaded to be wheeled as close as possible to whatever she had taken an interest in.

“That shirt would really suit you, Yukina,” she said excitedly, struggling to get closer to what looked like a punk fashion store. Nearly everything had chains hanging off it and was ripped and lopsided, but the shirt Lisa had pointed out was a little more feminine than the rest, with black lace roses and a purple body and a strip of red over the heart.

“Do you want to take a closer look?” Yukina asked, more than willing to oblige.

No matter how embarrassed she felt, she would overcome it today, just for Lisa’s sake. Who knows how many good days they had left, who knows how many _days_ they had left?

Yukina did not want to regret not having made Lisa smile as much as she could have. Even if it meant turning herself tomato-red with mortification, she would make Lisa happy.

Lisa frowned as she examined the narrow spaces between the aisles, “But, the wheelchair…”

“We can always find something else,” Yukina said.

Lisa looked thoughtful, almost sad, for a moment, and then nodded. “You’ll get something that matches with me, won’t you?”

“Of course,” Yukina replied.

At this point, she would promise Lisa the world. She was like a desperate worshipper trying to cling to her goddess, to wrap her fingers in all that shining beauty and keep her forever, willing to offer up absolutely anything for just another smile.

Slowly, they trundled along, surprised at how crowded the streets were despite the weather. It was only a few degrees over freezing, yet teenage girls choked the place as if it were summer break. The number of short skirts and bare shoulders had Yukina’s head reeling - were those girls even human?

How did Lisa feel, watching all these people prance about beneath the sun, unconcerned and free? Did she feel envious of them, had she ever thought, _why me, why not them?_

“Yukina, look!” Lisa was gesturing almost violently to one of the shopfronts, and Yukina quickly pulled them to a stop. “Isn’t that cute?”

No, it didn’t seem like she had. Lisa wasn’t even paying attention to the people around her who were not essentially allergic to the sun; she didn’t even spare a glance at them. Instead, her eyes had been drawn by the multitude of cute clothes, by the beauty of the world she had never really seen before.

It was really just like Lisa, to be too distracted by beauty to bother about envy.

“What is it?” Yukina asked, turning to look at whatever Lisa had found.

It was an adorable hooded shirt, in pale lavender, with short sleeves and a picture of a cartoon cat. The hood even had little cat ears stitched on it.

“It’s so cute...” Yukina breathed, struggling to keep her undying love for all things feline from exploding.

“Let’s get it,” Lisa said excitedly, struggling to get her wheelchair up on the kerb so she could reach it. “We can get two different colors, can’t we?”

“Lisa, be careful,” Yukina scolded, rushing to grab the shirt off the rack so Lisa could get her hands on it safely.

With a bright smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, Lisa thanked her.

“It’s soft,” she said, rubbing her cheek against the shirt before holding it out to Yukina. “Want to try it?”

Yukina blushed as a member of staff came over to them, an eyebrow raised at Lisa’s weird actions. With the trademark polite smile of sales staff, he asked, “How may I help you?”

“Ah,” even Lisa looked a little embarrassed, half hiding behind the shirt as she held it out to him. “Do you, uh… happen to have this in red?”

“We do,” the man said enthusiastically, “Give me a moment to fetch it for you!”

As he disappeared back into the shop, Lisa raised the shirt to Yukina’s shoulders appraisingly.

“I’m sure you’ll look really cute in it,” she said, her voice almost wistful.

 _Why do you sound like you’ll never see me wearing it?_ Yukina wanted to ask, but she couldn’t get the words out of her throat, not when she already knew the answer. Lisa did not think she would live to see the summer, where it would be warm enough to wear something like that.

“I’ll wear it for you,” Yukina promised. “Then you can see for yourself.”

Surprised, Lisa stared at her with wide eyes for a few moments, before breaking into a grin. “That sounds almost… adult-like.”

Yukina blushed, grabbing the shirt and shoving it in Lisa’s face. “Say that again and I won’t wear it.”

“Sorry, sorry!” Before Lisa could continue, the staff member came back with a cheerful _sorry to have kept you waiting._

Once again, he seemed slightly bemused by their actions, but didn’t comment. Instead, he handed Lisa a red version of the shirt while informing her about some sort of offer in that rapidfire way salespeople spoke when they were desperate to make you buy something.

Smiling amicably, she let him finish his pitch before turning to Yukina and asking, “Yukina, what do you think?”

Unable to stop herself from grinning back, Yukina replied, “Let’s get it.”

* * *

In February, the winter was slowly, reluctantly, beginning to give way to spring, bringing with it temperatures that _almost_ had two digits. While it was still too cold to wear their special shirts outside, they had been spending most of their time indoors, where it was certainly warm enough.

Yukina was lounging on the floor with the hood up, pretending to be doing “homework” while she worked on the lyrics to Lisa’s song. She had to make it absolutely perfect, every single word had to be just right, because it had to convey to Lisa the depth of Yukina’s feelings for her.

Lisa, on the other hand, was flopped on the bed, scribbling furiously in a notebook she refused to let anyone else get within touching distance of. They weren’t speaking to each other, weren’t even within touching distance, yet everything felt perfect.

To some, it might have seemed pointless, maybe even lonely, to be doing separate things in the same room. However, to Yukina, it would be these quiet moments that she would miss the most.

After all, it was rare to find someone you were so comfortable around, you could do absolutely nothing with them and still feel at ease. It was difficult to find someone who would demand so little from you, she would be glad to just sit in the same room as you as long as it meant being able to enjoy your company. That kind of person, that kind of friendship, was the rarest and most important treasure the world could ever contain.

“Hey, Yukina,” Lisa suddenly called, not looking up from her notebook, “There’s something… I want to ask you. But I don’t really know how.”

Curiosity flared in Yukina’s chest, but she pushed it down and said, “You can tell me anything, or nothing. You know I don’t mind.”

Lisa made a weird sound in the back of her throat, hesitant yet agreeing at the same time. It was obviously troubling her, the thing she could not quite say, but Yukina didn’t want to force her to say it. Closing her notebook, Yukina set it aside before cheering Lisa up in the only way she knew how - by flinging herself on the bed next to her.

“Yukina! You scared me,” Lisa nearly fell off the bed in surprise, but quickly managed to gather herself and shove her book under the covers. Yukina knew better than to look anyway, studiously averting her gaze until she felt Lisa gently rest her head against her shoulder.

Yukina didn’t say a word. She had never been particularly good with words, anyway, but actions… Actions were something Yukina fared a little better with. So she just rested her cheek on the top of Lisa’s head, reaching out for her hand and entangling their fingers together.

It was embarrassing, doing something so bold, but Yukina was more than willing to get over herself right now. There wasn’t much time left for her to hesitate, red-faced and stammering, because Lisa wasn’t going to be around for much longer.

So they stayed like that, entangled in each other, for a period of time that was both impossibly long yet painfully short. Yukina wanted to freeze this moment, to capture it for all of eternity and sear every inch of it into her brain. The way the LED lights cast harsh shadows over everything, the way Lisa’s body felt pressed up against her own, the way the mattress dipped beneath them, Yukina wanted to carve every little detail of it into her mind, so that she would never forget.

“Yukina,” Lisa finally whispered, in a voice so tiny it broke her heart.

Giving Lisa’s hand a squeeze, she hummed, “Yeah?”

Something warm dripped onto her shoulder, and Yukina nearly flinched when she realized Lisa was crying. It was quiet, almost dignified, the way the tears streamed down Lisa’s cheeks, and it cut her deeply to realize that even her sun had its weaknesses.

“I-if…” Lisa faltered, choking back a sob, “If I were to tell you… that I’m afraid to die… what… what would you say?”

 _Oh._ It shouldn’t really come as any sort of surprise, Yukina supposed, because it was logical for anyone to be afraid of dying. Even so, it felt almost unbelievable, that a girl as strong and bright and warm as Imai Lisa could be afraid of anything. She seemed to have accepted it ages ago, that she would die, yet here she was…

Imai Lisa was not a hero, she was an ordinary girl after all. And like any other sick girl, she was crying in fear, in anger, in frustration - because she wanted more time than she was likely to get, because she didn’t want to die, wasting away, on a hospital bed.

“I would say,” Yukina said slowly, carefully, aware of the importance of every word, “that I’ll be here with you, always. You’ll never have to go through anything alone, I’ll always be right next to you.”

Lisa had broken down even further at that, throwing her free arm around Yukina’s neck with a shaky sob. Yet, even though her cheeks were streaked with tears, she was still smiling, that bright, unshakeable smile that Yukina had grown to love.

“What was it you always said to me?” she mumbled into the curve of Yukina’s neck, squeezing her hand with more strength than Yukina thought she had left. _“If you’re with me, I’m not afraid of anything.”_

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Lisa pulled back just enough to look Yukina in the eyes, so close that their foreheads were touching. “Yukina, could you promise me something?”

“Anything,” she said automatically. And she meant it. Even if Lisa asked for the entire world, Yukina would have tried to give it to her.

Smiling faintly, Lisa had said, “When the cherry blossoms bloom, I want to go for _ohanami_ with you. A proper one, with a fancy picnic in a real park.”

A simple request, yet one that Yukina could hardly hope to fulfill. Lisa’s days were numbered, and though neither of them knew the exact number she had left… it was definitely not enough to last until the end of March.

Yet, even though they both knew it was pointless, Yukina had replied, “I promise.”

By the time the cherry blossoms flowered, Lisa would be dead. Deep in their hearts, they knew it, but they made that promise anyway, as if the strength of their feelings could ward off death.

* * *

Lisa had collapsed again, but this time… this time, they knew she would not be leaving the hospital ever again. There were many reasons for it, scans and charts and complicated explanations from various doctors, but it all boiled down to the same thing.

Imai Lisa was going to die soon.

“By the end of the week,” one of the doctors had said.

Another nurse had commented, “She might even be going tonight.”

Yukina didn’t want to believe them. She wanted to deny their predictions with every inch of her being, but she knew… she knew they were right.

She could see it in the color of Lisa’s skin, a terrible white that almost matched the color of the sheets. She could see it in the hollow of Lisa’s cheeks, in the whirring of the machine that helped her breathe, in the slow beeping of the heart rate monitor by her bed.

Lisa had almost made it, maybe she could make it - the cherry blossoms were supposed to be blooming any day now. If she could just hang in there a little longer, she wouldn’t have to break their promise. Maybe, as a final wish, the hospital could let her have that picnic in the park, enjoying an ephemeral beauty that would be infinitely less beautiful once she was gone.

But as the hours passed, the likelihood of it grew smaller and smaller.

There was only so much of her brainstem left, the doctors had said. The atrophy had destroyed so much of it, most of her basic functions were gone - sitting up, swallowing, even _breathing_ took a Herculean amount of effort. Still, Lisa forced her eyes open; still, she forced herself to smile, every bit as brilliantly radiant as she had always been.

And still, it hurt Yukina to see her. Dazzlingly brilliant, blindingly bright, her sunkissed rhodonite had not dimmed in the slightest.

“Yu...kina…” Lisa’s voice was so small, yet so happy when she welcomed her into the hospital room. “Good… morning~”

Even when she was dying, her spirit shone through. Yukina supposed that was what people talked about when they spoke of the strength of the dying, of the dignity and heroics of the unfortunate children who _died of._

“Good morning, Yukina-chan,” Lisa’s mother greeted, “It’s so nice to see you.”

“Good morning,” Yukina said, heading straight for Lisa’s bedside, reaching out for Lisa’s hand because she knew Lisa no longer had the strength to reach out for hers.

There really wasn’t much else to say or do, Yukina had come to realize over the days. Nothing was really sufficient when you were holding on to the hand of a dying friend, trapped within four sterile white walls, waiting for the sword of death to come swinging down.

“I’m sorry, Yukina.”

Confused, Yukina asked, “What for?”

Lisa smiled, a sad little smile that already seemed extremely far away. “I… I might not… be able… to keep… our promise…”

 _You can,_ Yukina wanted to insist, _you have to._ But she didn’t, because she knew it would be too selfish to make such a demand. It was clearly a struggle for Lisa to hold on; if she wanted to let go, she could. It was enough, she had suffered enough. If she was ready to, Yukina would let her rest.

“That’s alright,” she whispered, pressing the back of Lisa’s hand to her forehead. “That’s alright, Lisa. Don’t think about it.”

Gently, those pale fingers flicked against her forehead. At first, Yukina thought it was another involuntary twitch, but when it happened again, harder this time, she looked up to meet warm, tear-filled silver eyes.

“Yukina…” she started, but couldn’t seem to get any other words out. Biting her lip, Lisa turned to her mother, “Mom… remember… to give that… to her… please…?”

“I will,” the woman whispered, squeezing Lisa’s hand so tightly it was as if she would break her bones. “Don’t you worry about a thing. Mom will make sure she gets it.”

“That’s… a relief…” Lisa trailed off, struggling to catch her breath. Once she had, she turned back to Yukina with that beautiful, familiar smile. “Yuki...na…”

“Yes?”

“I…” she paused, licked her lips, and then shook her head minutely with a sigh. “I can’t… say it… But, one day... you’ll know. P...promise…”

“Like I always said,” Yukina wanted to reassure her, “You can tell me anything, or nothing. I won’t get angry.”

Lisa smiled again, trying very hard to squeeze Yukina’s fingers with whatever strength she had left. “Thank you.”

All that talking seemed to have exhausted all her energy, and it did not take very long for Lisa to drift off to sleep. The machines around her whirred and beeped, and Yukina could not understand how Lisa could sleep so soundly amongst them.

She didn’t know it yet, but that was the last time Lisa would ever open her eyes.

For the next two days, her body kept fighting - it was that powerful spirit of hers, Yukina thought, trying to stick around for just one more day, to try and keep that promise regardless of what it took. She wasn’t quite ready to leave yet, she hadn’t done everything she wanted to, and she was trying her best to do what she said she would.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t.

On the day the cherry blossoms finally bloomed, Imai Lisa left the world.

Yukina had been alone in the room with her then, as her mother had gone out for a quick toilet break. Tracing gentle circles into the back of Lisa’s hand, she had talked about their promise, about her song, telling her how nervous yet eager she was to share it with Lisa.

“When you wake up,” she had said, even though part of her knew it would never happen. “When you wake up, I’ll sing it just for you.”

Lisa’s lips twitched upwards in a faint smile, almost as if she had heard her. And then she let out a long, peaceful sigh - her final breath.

The sound of the heart monitor going flat would haunt Yukina’s dreams for weeks to come.

She had known this moment would come for years, had tried to prepare herself for it, yet… she was still stunned, dazed, blinking slowly as if someone had thrown a flashbang in her face and her mind was still struggling to restart.

The heart monitor screamed, the sound echoing hollowly in Yukina’s skull. It was almost like a siren that confirmed her new reality, that Imai Lisa was truly gone and would never come back.

Yukina began to cry.

No, it wasn’t just _crying._ She was wailing, on her knees on the floor with her forehead pressed against the cold tile, sobbing like a child who had just lost everything. She was practically screaming, startled by the sheer intensity of the anger and hopelessness that had suddenly welled up inside her.

How could the world be so cruel, to take away a girl as beautiful and pure as Lisa so quickly?

How could she continue living on in a world where her sun had stopped shining?

When she woke up in the morning, Lisa would not be there.

When the cherry blossoms scattered, Lisa would not be there.

When the summer came, when the leaves began to fall, when Yukina’s seventeenth birthday came, when the year changed and it grew cold, when spring came around again...

Lisa would not be there.

The night-time sun would never rise again. The dazzling light that had seared into the backs of Yukina’s eyelids had gone out.

That day, on her knees on the hospital floor, Yukina had gouged out her heart, leaving it behind with the ashes of her sun.

**~**

That night, Lisa’s mother had passed her a notebook, the very one Lisa had been writing in. It had been Lisa’s final request, to pass that book on to Yukina, because it contained very important words that she could not hope to say.

Numbly, Yukina took the book, even though all she wanted to do was to fling it from her with a guttural cry of agony.

She wanted Lisa back, not some book containing her final words and thoughts. She wanted her sun back, she wanted her rock back, she wanted to be able to sing her that song and to blush as Lisa flung warm arms around her neck and smiled as if the sun itself were beneath her skin. But Lisa wouldn’t come back, she couldn’t, not with all the tears and screams in the world.

Lisa was dead. Yukina’s sun had gone out, Yukina’s rock had shattered, and she owed it to that girl to read the last words she had wanted to leave behind.

So she took the book, steeled herself and read it.

 _Farewell Letters_ , it said on the front, in Lisa’s neat, looping handwriting. She had probably written that months ago, before her condition took a turn for the worse. By the time Yukina caught her writing in that book, she could no longer hold a pen properly.

At the top of the first page, the word _drafts_ was written in brackets, along with a little star that said, _don’t forget to revise them!_ The rest of that page, however, was completely empty.

From the number of torn out pages that followed, Yukina assumed she had managed to do some revising, even with the limited time she had left. It was just like Lisa, to make sure her drafts and incomplete work were removed, so only her best attempt would be seen. Slowly, hesitantly, Yukina flipped through the remaining pages - _Mother, Father, Teacher_ \- until she found her own name.

 _Yukina._ The handwriting was shaky, the words carefully formed like an elementary schooler doing a writing exercise, because Lisa’s fine motor skills had been shot to pieces by that point.

_There is so much I want to tell you, and I don’t really know how to start._

_But I’m going to start with this, anyway. I had a lot of fun with you, Yukina. It’s true - I know that it might seem that I was always looking after you, but they were the happiest days of my life. For someone like me to be able to care for someone, to be relied on by them, to be able to play and laugh and talk about ordinary things - I had never really imagined it possible._

_But you made all my wildest dreams come true._

_Even after finding out I was dying, you let me stay with you. You didn’t treat me differently, you didn’t look at me with those pitiful eyes that everyone else did. Instead, you held my hand and continued to rely on me, to laugh with me, to talk to me._

_And I can never thank you enough for that._

_As you know, I was basically born to die after a short, painful life. I was born to be a pitiable creature. What was it that Remarque said? “One could defend oneself against insults, not against pity.” Before you came into my life, I was helpless, I was hopeless, living a life that didn’t even count as one, pitied by everyone._

_What I didn’t know then was that I was pitying myself, too._

_But then you came along. You were crying like a baby, but you were also the bravest person I had ever met. Even though you got lost, even though you got hurt, you would still embark on whatever path you wanted without a moment’s hesitation._

_Even if it hurts, even if you have to go alone, you’ve never shied away from what you wanted. You didn’t let anyone stop you, you didn’t live your life by anyone’s terms but your own._

_To me, who always lived based on what my parents wanted, who never did anything without first consulting a panel of doctors, you were the most dazzling person I had ever seen. You still are._

_You gave me the hope and strength to make my own decisions, to do more than just the bare minimum to keep living so my parents would be happy. You have made the last eleven years of my life worth living._

_You’ve given me so many reasons to smile, you’ve given me so many precious memories, you’ve given me so much that I wish there was more I could do to thank you. Unfortunately, there isn’t really much I can do but try to make you feel a little better about my death._

_There will come a morning where you’ll wake up, and I won’t be there anymore._

_There will come a morning where you’ll wake up, and you won’t even think about me all day._

_There will come a morning where you’ll wake up, and you’ll struggle to remember my voice or my face, or even my name._

_And that’s all okay._

_It’s okay to feel pain, to be sad, or to even be angry at me for leaving you. Really, I don’t mind. It’s also okay to move on; in fact, I really hope you will move on, even if it takes years and years._

_I want you to be able to keep living on, even if you have to do it alone. I know you can do it, you’ve been doing it for longer than I’ve known you, but I’m afraid that you might think, “But if I move forward alone, it’s like I’m betraying Lisa!”_

_That’s why I’m going to write this clearly. It’s okay to move on, even if that means forgetting me. I mean, I’m kind of a part of you anyway, aren’t I? So as long as you keep smiling, keep looking ahead and chasing your dreams, then you won’t really be leaving me behind._

_Even if one day, all you can remember is the faintest hint of a smile… know that I’ll still be there with you, and that I’ll be really proud of you._

_Finally, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever tell you this, but… by the time you read this, I’ll be dead, so it’s okay to just come out and tell you this, right?_

_I love you, Minato Yukina._

_I was always afraid to tell you, because I didn’t want to risk losing you, because I didn’t have anyone else if you were to leave me. I was selfish, I wanted to keep holding on to you, so I kept these words a secret until I no longer had to face the consequences of saying them._

_I’m in love with you, Yukina. But really, that doesn’t matter. What we had, the relationship we shared for the last eleven years, is something that would put a “romantic relationship” to shame. It’s something that none of the labels in the world could really define, and it is something that has made me happier than words can ever express._

_I want to thank you, again, for being by my side. For giving me the most wonderful eleven years I could have ever hoped for._

_I want to thank you for everything._

_Love,_ _  
_ _Lisa._

* * *

Imai Lisa’s funeral was a small affair, because she hadn’t really known many people. Unlike most other teenagers, Lisa had not loved widely, even though with her charm and brightness, she could have easily snared as many hearts as she wished. Instead, Lisa had chosen to love deeply, to give as much of herself as she could to a select few people.

Yukina was lucky enough to be one of them.

That was why she had to do this, even though she would rather be inside, curled up on her bed and bawling her eyes out. She had to stand here, on this cruelly sunny day, surrounded by the cherry blossoms that Lisa hadn’t gotten to see, and deliver her eulogy.

“You don’t have to force yourself, Yukina-chan,” Lisa’s father said, trying and failing to give her a warm smile.

She knew that, but she still had to do it. She _wanted_ to do it, because if there was any place, any time, that Lisa could hear what was going on in the world she had left behind, it would be her funeral. And Yukina had some very important things to tell her.

“I…” Yukina stepped up to the microphone, ignoring the various eyes that pinned on her. “I don’t really have anything to say.”

Gripping the edges of the podium, Yukina took a deep breath before continuing. “Instead, I… have something to sing. Lisa… I wanted you to hear this, while you were here, but… I really hope that you can hear me now.”

An imperfect song for a perfect girl: _Hidamari Rhodonite._

If Lisa was listening… Yukina hoped she would understand.

Yukina had loved her, too.

No, Yukina still loved her, and would love her always.

She would keep moving forward, even though she didn’t really want to, even though part of her just wanted to die.

She would walk on alone, because Lisa was right. She was good at doing that.

But she wouldn’t really be alone, would she? Because Lisa would be right by her side.

Always.

**Author's Note:**

> Xeroderma Pigmentosum is an actual condition, but due to how rare it is, not much is known about it, and a cure is nonexistent.  
> I have always wanted to write a story about this disorder, and it seems like LisaYuki is my sacrifice the angsty sun gods. As usual, all my work is not beta-ed, so please excuse any typo errors.  
> I was listening to "Ichiban no Takaramono" (Yui's final version) while writing this, but I decided to make Hidamari Rhodonite the song Yukina wrote anyway.  
> Please leave a comment if you have any thoughts to share at all!


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